Budget efficiency in local government strategic planning: a systematic review 2020-2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17918208Keywords:
budget, planning, local governmentsAbstract
The purpose of this study was to synthesize the findings of the scientific literature on local government budget efficiency published between 2020 and 2025. It was developed under a systematic review design following the PRISMA guidelines, with a search of three major databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and SciELO, 93 documents were selected, and 35 articles were subsequently systematized. It was found that budget efficiency in local governments is associated with institutional quality, transparency, and management capacity. The methodological approaches used in the studies were predominantly econometric (panel, DEA, stochastic frontier), complemented by systematic reviews and mixed approaches that provided robustness and validity. For budgetary efficiency, institutional, fiscal, and territorial determinants (governance, transparency, accountability, centralism, administrative weakness, and quality of tax reforms) were identified that explain variations in performance. In Latin America, and particularly in Peru, internal control and auditing strengthen budget execution. A minimum framework of indicators is proposed in four dimensions: fiscal-administrative, social, institutional, and environmental. Overall, strengthening budget efficiency requires solid governance, transparency, and sustainability to consolidate citizen trust and equitable territorial development. It is concluded that budgetary efficiency in local governments requires more than fiscal discipline: it requires transparency, governance, and sustainability. Only then will public confidence be strengthened and equitable territorial development be promoted.
Downloads
References
Abuzanjal, A., y Bashir, H. (2024). Service innovation challenges in UAE government entities: Identification and examination of the impact of organizational size and excellence model implementation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100364
Afonso, A., Jalles, J. T., y Venâncio, A. (2021). Structural Tax Reforms and Public Spending Efficiency. Open Economies Review, 32(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-021-09644-4
Afonso, A., Tovar Jalles, J., y Venâncio, A. (2024). Fiscal decentralization and public sector efficiency: Do natural disasters matter? Economic Modelling, 137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106763
Afonso, A., y Venâncio, A. (2020). Local territorial reform and regional spending efficiency. Local Government Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03003930.2019.1690995
Apeti, A. E., Bambe, B. W. W., y Combes, J.-L. (2025). On the macroeconomic effects of fiscal reforms: Fiscal rules and public expenditure efficiency. Public Choice, 205(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-025-01275-4
Breaugh, J., Rackwitz, M., y Hammerschmid, G. (2023). Leadership and institutional design in collaborative government digitalisation: Evidence from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, and the UK. Government Information Quarterly, 40(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101788
Brikci, N., Alao, R., Wang, H., Erlangga, D., y Hanson, K. (2024). Improving the efficiency in spending for health: A systematic review of evidence. SSM - Health Systems, 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmhs.2024.100008
Camanho, A. S., Silva, M. C., Piran, F. S., y Lacerda, D. P. (2024). A literature review of economic efficiency assessments using Data Envelopment Analysis. European Journal of Operational Research, 315(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2023.07.027
Casanova-Figueroa, G. F., y Gómez-García, S. L. (2024). Control interno y su incidencia en la gestión del presupuesto del Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado Municipal del cantón Olmedo, provincia de Manabí. MQRInvestigar, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.56048/MQR20225.8.2.2024.797-819
Castro, J. C. (2025). La ejecución presupuestal en gobiernos locales del Valle Rio Apurímac y la modernización del Estado. Revista InveCom, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11110270
Chaparro-Martínez, E. I., Álvarez-Muñoz, P., y D’Armas-Regnault, M. (2016). Gestión de la información: Uso de las bases de datos scopus y web of science con fines académicos. Universidad, Ciencia y Tecnología, 20(81). https://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1316-48212016000400003
Chévez-Nágera, Y. S., y Feijó-Cuenca, N. P. (2025). De la planificación a la ejecución: Eficiencia en la gestión presupuestaria universitaria en Ecuador. MQRInvestigar, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.56048/MQR20225.9.3.2025.e921
Chiu, Y., Huang, K.-Y., Lin, T.-Y., y Chang, T.-H. (2021). Government debt and fiscal execution efficiency. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.3362
Coda Moscarola, F., Colombino, U., Figari, F., y Locatelli, M. (2020). Shifting taxes away from labour enhances equity and fiscal efficiency. Journal of Policy Modeling, 42(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2019.07.002
Curo, W. Q., Muro, E. D. A., Miranda, O. C. C., y Guadalupe, A. L. G. (2025). Internal control and financial auditing in the quality of budget execution at a local government in Peru. Sapienza: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.51798/sijis.v6i2.831
Derzayeva, G. G., y Akhmadieva, G. G. (2014). Budgetary Policy Efficiency of Municipalities in the Field of Education. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.291
Dixit, V., Singh, J., y Sardar, S. (2024). Efficiency of subnational government expenditure towards elementary education and nutrition: Bootstrap data envelopment analysis for India. Journal of Public Affairs, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2884
Dorn, F., Gaebler, S., y Roesel, F. (2021). Ineffective fiscal rules? The effect of public sector accounting standards on budgets, efficiency, and accountability. Public Choice, 186(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-019-00755-8
Eroğlu, E., Aydemir, M., Tunç, G., y Gerçek, A. (2023). An Analysis of the Relationship between Municipalities and NGOs in Terms of Active Participation in Local Budgeting in Türkiye. Sosyoekonomi, 31(56). https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2023.02.08
Figueroa, Y., Aroni, A., y Condori, M. (2024). Asignación presupuestaria y la ejecución de gasto público en el contexto universitario peruano. En Instituto Universitario de Innovación Ciencia y Tecnología Inudi Perú. Instituto Universitario de Innovación Ciencia y Tecnología Inudi Perú. https://doi.org/10.35622/inudi.b.138
Gerrish, E., Ivonchyk, M., Charles, C., Greer, R. A., y Moldogaziev, T. T. (2025). A meta-analysis of the state and local government borrowing costs. Public Administration Review, 85(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13822
Giray, E., y Neyapti, B. (2022). Fiscal Decentralization, Political Heterogeneity and Welfare. Prague Economic Papers, 31(5). https://doi.org/10.18267/j.pep.813
Guo, K., Guo, H., Ren, S., Zhang, J., y Li, X. (2020). Towards efficient motion-blurred public security video super-resolution based on back-projection networks. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2020.102691
Hüsken, L. M., Slinger, J. H., Vreugdenhil, H. S. I., y Altamirano, M. A. (2024). Money talks. A systems perspective on funding and financing barriers to nature-based solutions. Nature-Based Solutions, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100200
Indahsari, C. L., y Raharja, S. J. (2020). New Public Management (NPM) as an Effort in Governance. Jurnal Manajemen Pelayanan Publik, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.24198/jmpp.v3i2.25342
Jiang, L., Chen, Y., Jiang, Y., y Zhang, B. (2025). Does Fiscal Efficiency Affect Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence Based on Spatial Panel Data Models. Review of Development Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13217
Jung, H. (2022). Online Open Budget: The Effects of Budget Transparency on Budget Efficiency. Public Finance Review, 50(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/10911421221093412
Jung, S-M. (2021). Participatory budgeting and government efficiency: Evidence from municipal governments in South Korea. International Review of Administrative Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852321991208
La Torre, M., Leo, S., Palma, A., y Zapata, J. D. S. (2024). Public spending and green finance: A systematic literature review. Research in International Business and Finance, 68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102197
Labanda, V. E. R., y Tandazo, J. J. C. (2024). Eficiencia de la gestión presupuestaria de los Gobiernos Autónomos Descentralizados Parroquiales Rurales del cantón Loja. Prometeo Conocimiento Científico, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.55204/pcc.v4i1.e87
Lawes, M., Schultze, M., y Eid, M. (2020). Making the Most of Your Research Budget: Efficiency of a Three-Method Measurement Design With Planned Missing Data. Assessment, 27(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191118798050
Lucio, A. D. J., y Lino, L. L. (2024). Influencia de la planificación presupuestaria en los objetivos estratégicos de los GAD parroquiales. Ciencia y Desarrollo, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.21503/cyd.v27i4.2723
Łukomska-Szarek, J., Wójcik-Mazur, A., y Martynko, A. (2024). Evaluation of the Budget Management of Local Government Units in Poland Based on Methods of Multi-Criteria Analysis in 2019-2021. Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.52152/22.2.243-276
Manfreda, A., y Mijač, T. (2024). Highlighting gaps in technology acceptance research: A call for integrating happiness and well-being into smart city development. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100585
Mayorga, D. J. Z., Basurto, E. M. P., Chango, J. P. P., y Zambrano, L. P. C. (2025). La Planificación Estratégica como Mejora Continua en el Sector Público. Revista Veritas de Difusão Científica, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.61616/rvdc.v6i1.458
Merino, J. A. V., y Chávez, W. E. Z. (2020). La gestión del presupuesto por resultados y la calidad del gasto en gobiernos locales. Revista Científica Visión de Futuro, 24(2). https://visiondefuturo.fce.unam.edu.ar/index.php/visiondefuturo/article/view/442
Meyer, D. F. (Ed.). (2025). Trends in Emerging Markets, Globalization, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Management Strategies as a Result of Cross-Border Cooperation. MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-7258-3808-0
Mohanty, R. K., y Bhanumurthy, N. R. (2021). Assessing public expenditure efficiency at the subnational level in India: Does governance matter? Journal of Public Affairs, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2173
Morales Rocha, J. L., Lauracio Ticona, T., Coyla Zela, M. A., Ramos Rojas, J. T., Serruto Medina, G., Vargas Torres, N. I., y Zeballos Hurtado, N. J. (2025). Impact of social conflicts and fiscal centralization on fiscal efficiency and governance of subnational governments in Peru, 2016–2023. Frontiers in Political Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1451195
Ospina, R., Baltazar, S. G. F., Leiva, V., Figueroa-Zúñiga, J., y Castro, C. (2023). Robust Semi-Parametric Inference for Two-Stage Production Models: A Beta Regression Approach. Symmetry, 15(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15071362
Panda, M., y Nayak, C. (2025). Fiscal Consolidation in the Indian States: A Status Assessment. Journal of Quantitative Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40953-025-00462-w
Pereira, T. R., y Miterhof, M. T. (2021). Uma nota sobre a eficiência fiscal das debêntures incentivadas em infraestrutura no Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Economia, 75. https://doi.org/10.5935/0034-7140.20210011
Reis, J., y Melão, N. (2023). Digital transformation: A meta-review and guidelines for future research. Heliyon, 9(1).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e12834
Rethlefsen, M. L., Kirtley, S., Waffenschmidt, S., Ayala, A. P., Moher, D., Page, M. J., Koffel, J. B., Blunt, H., Brigham, T., Chang, S., Clark, J., Conway, A., Couban, R., de Kock, S., Farrah, K., Fehrmann, P., Foster, M., Fowler, S. A., Glanville, J., … PRISMA-S Group. (2021). PRISMA-S: An extension to the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Literature Searches in Systematic Reviews. Systematic Reviews, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01542-z
Saji, D. R., y Madheswaran, S. (2025). Public expenditure efficiency on health in Indian states: Generalised stochastic frontier approach. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13547860.2025.2545211
Silva, T. C., Guerra, S. M., y dos Santos, M. V. B. (2022). The role of externalities in fiscal efficiency. Empirical Economics, 62(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02124-1
Sima, M., Liang, P., y Qingjie, Z. (2023). The impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth: A comparative analysis of selected African and OECD countries. Heliyon, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19520
Solorzano, Y. C. Z., y Reyes, S. G. S. (2025). Análisis de la planificación presupuestaria en el Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado Parroquial La Unión. Polo del Conocimiento, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.23857/pc.v10i2.8866
Talero-Sarmiento, L. H., Escobar-Rodríguez, L. Y., Gomez-Avila, F. L., y Parra-Sanchez, D. T. (2024). A literature review on Lean healthcare: Implementation strategies, challenges, and future research directions. Cogent Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2024.2411857
Ticona-Carrizales, L., Condori, S. C., Segales, B. C., Saico, C. R. Y., Campos, V. N. T., y Apaza-Panca, C. M. (2024). Analysis of the results-based budget and its effect on the quality of public expenditure of the national penitentiary institute, Peru. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(12). https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i12.6923
Tigua, G. P. C., y Yoza, R. B. Y. (2025). Planificación presupuestaria y eficiencia financiera en el Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado Parroquial La Unión. Revista Pulso Científico, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.70577/rps.v3i3.77
Tirtosuharto, D. (2022). The impact of fiscal efficiency on poverty reduction in Indonesia: Institutional factor and geographical differences. Journal of Geographical Systems, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-021-00359-1
Torres-Paredes, M. J., Delgado-Bardales, J. M., y Contreras-Julián, R. M. (2024). Competencias en gestión por procesos para ejecución presupuestal en la Gestión de Servicios de Salud. Archivo Médico Camagüey, 28. https://revistaamc.sld.cu/index.php/amc/article/view/10659
Yi, C., Xu, B., Shi, X., Li, R., y Chen, J. (2025). Exploring the spatial effects of rapid urbanization on land use efficiency in China under Low-Carbon constraints. Ecological Indicators, 174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113442
Zasko, V., Sidorova, E., Komarova, V., Boboshko, D., y Dontsova, O. (2021). Digitization of the Customs Revenue Administration as a Factor of the Enhancement of the Budget Efficiency of the Russian Federation. Sustainability, 13(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910757
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sandra Rivas Medina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The journal is licensed under the Attribution License (CC BY), allowing the possibility of copying, distributing, displaying, and producing derivative works, as long as the author is acknowledged and cited.
